Twins One strong -- One weak

Grecco

Had a set of twins today, one of them is a fine strong calf, he got up and sucked ok, the other didnt get up yet, I bottle fed him with about 2 litres of beastings but he still cant get up. The other calf has cleaned out the cow now on top of which the cow is dead wicked and doesn't have a pile of milk to start with. I was thinking of taking the weak calf away and feed it as its not going to get anything off the mother now that the strong calf is sucking the cow, the thing is I have another few litres of beastings but no access to new milk, would it be ok to feed the calf Maverick after that? or would I be better off leaving the calf with the cow and see does he get and suck up himself as its still early days??

1chippy

maybe try seperating the bigger calf with a gate or something and just let him in to suck for a day or two while the other lad gets his feet. we had three sets of twins this year and only one complete pair are still alive, the weaker one took weeks of tlc and a few steroids from the vet.
start feeding some dairy nuts to the cow. it will help calm her and hopefully bring a bit more milk.

bbam

Grecco wrote: »

Had a set of twins today, one of them is a fine strong calf, he got up and sucked ok, the other didnt get up yet, I bottle fed him with about 2 litres of beastings but he still cant get up. The other calf has cleaned out the cow now on top of which the cow is dead wicked and doesn't have a pile of milk to start with. I was thinking of taking the weak calf away and feed it as its not going to get anything off the mother now that the strong calf is sucking the cow, the thing is I have another few litres of beastings but no access to new milk, would it be ok to feed the calf Maverick after that? or would I be better off leaving the calf with the cow and see does he get and suck up himself as its still early days??

You could bottle some maverick into him to feed him a little at least..

Plenty of electrolyte too, gives them a bit of energy, prevents dehydration and improves blood pressure which will make him feel better and more like getting up...

If he starts to make efforts to get up I'd be putting the cow into the crush and get the calf to her that way... its a pain but might only be needed once or twice if your lucky..

Either way act fast, a calf like that will be dead in no time if you don't step in and take care of him...

haybob

Grecco wrote: »

Had a set of twins today, one of them is a fine strong calf, he got up and sucked ok, the other didnt get up yet, I bottle fed him with about 2 litres of beastings but he still cant get up. The other calf has cleaned out the cow now on top of which the cow is dead wicked and doesn't have a pile of milk to start with. I was thinking of taking the weak calf away and feed it as its not going to get anything off the mother now that the strong calf is sucking the cow, the thing is I have another few litres of beastings but no access to new milk, would it be ok to feed the calf Maverick after that? or would I be better off leaving the calf with the cow and see does he get and suck up himself as its still early days??

Dont feed the weak calf maverick just yet, is it all all possible without risking life and limb to stand the weak calf up and help him suck or milk the cow and bottle him. You could if possible seperate the big calf and feed him the maverick for a day or two

I've had similar myself this year not a huge difference in size but one was stiff and slow to motor, it took her two day to go lads have told me it could be the position in the womb ??? the other lad came out bacjward and was up like a shot

Get two bags of dairy nut and a bag of cheap cruch three scoops of nuts mixed with a scoop of cruch and she will be like a dairy cow, a dose for fluke will do no ham either

PS what breed are we talking

Grecco

Thanks for the replies lads,
( Pedigree Charolais calves :rolleyes:)
I had milked the cow earlier and only got about a litre off two teats, I left the other two for the other calf who has since cleaned her out. I gave the weak one that and about a litre and a half of heated up frozen beastings. He was shivering all day and looked weak. Anyway Ive put on a infra red light over the pen and he has rallied a bit in the last hour and seems to have tried to get up a few times but is too weak to hold himself up.
Definitely would be handier if he could stand and suck though

(Forgot to mention how dangerous this cow is, she`s the most wicked thing Ive ever seen)

bbam

Electrolytes.
Get some into him and it should help him.

Grecco wrote: »

Thanks for the replies lads,
( Pedigree Charolais calves :rolleyes:)
I had milked the cow earlier and only got about a litre off two teats, I left the other two for the other calf who has since cleaned her out. I gave the weak one that and about a litre and a half of heated up frozen beastings. He was shivering all day and looked weak. Anyway Ive put on a infra red light over the pen and he has rallied a bit in the last hour and seems to have tried to get up a few times but is too weak to hold himself up.
Definitely would be handier if he could stand and suck though

(Forgot to mention how dangerous this cow is, she`s the most wicked thing Ive ever seen)

Bizzum

Further to the advice above my priority would be keep beastings into the weaker calf. I would probably take both off the cow but retain visual contact with the cow. I would restrain the cow a few times a day and let both calves at her (assuming the weaker calf is up and about soon), otherwise I'd be restraining her to get milk and let the stronger twin mop up whats left. Feed her well, they would surprise you sometimes rearing twins, with the job they do on them, I would not be thinking of powder milk yet anyway.

You don't need me to tell you this but be careful handling her. One slip up or careless moment and your in a lot of trouble. Every day you get post calving should calm the cow.

Hopefully your calf will be flying in a few days. Best of luck with it.

pakalasa

I had a 2 year old heifer rare 2 twins last year. I gave her a few dairy nuts every day to help her milk. Both twins did fine.
You need to make that decision if she will have enough for both of them or not. In the meantime they need about 4 lts of beastings each a day. If they don't get that, both will suffer.

Bodacious

pakalasa wrote: »

I had a 2 year old heifer rare 2 twins last year. I gave her a few dairy nuts every day to help her milk. Both twins did fine.
You need to make that decision if she will have enough for both of them or not. In the meantime they need about 4 lts of beastings each a day. If they don't get that, both will suffer.

Hi pak,

I remember that picture

Bodacious

pakalasa wrote: »

I had a 2 year old heifer rare 2 twins last year. I gave her a few dairy nuts every day to help her milk. Both twins did fine.
You need to make that decision if she will have enough for both of them or not. In the meantime they need about 4 lts of beastings each a day. If they don't get that, both will suffer.

Hi pak,

I remember that picture you posted of that nice heifer and twins! She had a good bag for a heifer though.. How did they do in the end? They sold?!

pakalasa

Sold, they're still under her.:D
She took a while to come bulling so she will be calving a bit later this year. By drinking her they will keep condition off her. They are as big as the mother now. Like all FL22's they are a bit leggy. One has nice muscle, the other plain enough. I'll sell them in a month or two. They're too wild to breed them.

haybob

Grecco wrote: »

Had a set of twins today, one of them is a fine strong calf, he got up and sucked ok, the other didnt get up yet, I bottle fed him with about 2 litres of beastings but he still cant get up. The other calf has cleaned out the cow now on top of which the cow is dead wicked and doesn't have a pile of milk to start with. I was thinking of taking the weak calf away and feed it as its not going to get anything off the mother now that the strong calf is sucking the cow, the thing is I have another few litres of beastings but no access to new milk, would it be ok to feed the calf Maverick after that? or would I be better off leaving the calf with the cow and see does he get and suck up himself as its still early days??

any update on this I expect the cow will have settled down a good bit by now